Murphy's Law
by AlexandreaLily107
Summary: Murphy Cooper realises the importance of her name and her continued existence, and why her Father had to leave her all those years ago. As, the answer had never been to abandon her, but rather to make her stay. Please Read and Review! (One-Shot)


**Disclaimer: I don't own Interstellar it all belongs to the director Christopher Nolan and producers Emma Thomas and Lynda Obst. However, I do own the possible OC's that may appear in this story.**

 _*~_ **Murphy's Law** _~*_

One-shot

 _Summary: Murphy Cooper realises the importance of her name and her continued existence, and why her Father had to leave her all those years ago. As, the answer had never been to abandon her, but rather to make her stay. Please Read and Review!_

* * *

Murphy Cooper hated her name, and she hadn't understood why her parents had given it to her. The kids at school had teased her and given her there own version, Murphy's Law Cooper they would call her, and now she was dubbed the harbinger of bad luck and nobody wanted to be her friend. When she went to the library one afternoon she had researched the name and found that it had meant sea warrior, but what did a meaning like that even have to do with her? She had pondered an then there was still the factor of the term Murphy's law…

"I need to prove a friend wrong." she'd told her Dad one day after school when they'd gone for a drive and gotten a flat tyre.

"Why?"

"He thinks my full name is Murphy's Law Cooper." she said, her head hung low.

Cooper let out a laugh.

"Dad, why would you and Mum name me after something that's bad? she'd asked in a serious tone.

"Well, we didn't."

"Murphy's law?" she questioned.

"Murphy's law doesn't mean that something bad will happen. It means that whatever _can_ happen, will happen. And that sounded just fine to us."

"I read that it means sea warrior, but if that's your definition of Murphy's law then that's alright by me."

"Good, now stop stressing young lady." Cooper had told her.

Murphy Cooper was special, but at the age of ten she just didn't know it yet, and she wouldn't of been be able to comprehend how important her name would become. If someone had told her back than that she would be the key to the survival of the human race, and that a young Murphy Cooper would grow to endorse Murphy's law, and with the help of her Father save the whole of humanity. She wouldn't of believed them, because Murphy's law hadn't meant to be a harbinger of bad luck like Tom and her class mates thought, but was rather meant to be used as a symbol of hope.

* * *

When Murphy's mother Erin was alive the Cooper family would be early to everything, but it wasn't until she died of a malignant brain tumour. That the Cooper family trait really showed, because now her Dad was late to everything, and his noticeable absence in her life proved that even more. As time would wait for no man.

"Shake a leg, Murph get a move on!"

"4'clock you and me in the barn, herbicide resistance 101."

"Not at the table Murph."

"Dad can you fix this?" she asked.

"What the heck did you do to my lander?"

"It wasn't me."

"Let me guess it was your ghost." Tom mocked.

"It knocked it of my shelf, keeps on knocking books off." Murphy said.

"There's no such thing as ghosts dumbass." Tom retorted.

"Hey." Cooper said, his voice raised.

"I looked it up it's called a poltergeist."

"Dad, tell her."

"Well, it's not very scientific Murph."

"You said science is about admitting what we don't know."

"She's got you there."

"Hey, start looking after our stuff."

"Coop."

"Murph, you wanna talk science, then you just telling you're afraid of some ghost. Well, you've gotta go further, gotta record the facts, analyse the how and the why and present your conclusions."

"Deal?"

"Deal" Murphy replied, her face full of determination.

"Right, y'all have a good day at school." Cooper said.

Murphy's logic had been to study hard in her schooling days she was a true academic, because unlike her brother she had a drive to excel, because Murphy was like her Father and she wanted to understand the unknown. So, the day that her Father had come to accept the reality of her ghost was one of the best days of her life. She had remembered the rush around the house as they tested their theory. Her Dad had a gleam in his eyes as he scurried around the house looking for a piece paper and a pen. As it turned out that the dust on her bedroom floor was actually binary and coordinates to NASA HQ, and Murphy wasn't going to let the opportunity to go to NASA slip away. After all she had helped her Dad notice that her ghost was actually a reality and not just some imaginary friend like Tom thought and nor was it a poltergeist like she had first assumed.

When they'd gotten back she remembered how she'd told her Grandpa Donald and Tom about her ghost, and how it had left binary on the floor which turned out to be NASA HQ coordinates. Her Grandpa had smiled and Tom had told her it was stupid and there were no such things as ghosts. Murphy told him that their Dad had believed her, but he'd taunted her by staying that he was just playing along in her stupid game to make her feel better. She'd stormed off to her room in tears unable to figure out if her Dad had believed her or not after all.

Tom had spent too much time chasing after girls and focusing on popularity than about the real problems at hand, and had he of been smart enough and paid attention then he could of helped bring their Father home, but no Tom had become a family man with his wife and High school sweetheart Lois by his side and sons' Jesse and Joseph 'Coop'. Tom had everything he wanted, until time had made it all fall apart, because that was Murphy's law and Tom would never be better than her.

Although, to give Tom some credit he'd done what their Father had asked of him. He'd looked after that farm to the best of his ability and he wouldn't let anyone touch it. That farm, their childhood home had become his. He had raised his own family there and he'd buried their Grandfather Donald and his own child Jesse their. When Jesse had died it had changed him and it broke his heart, but when Joseph 'Coop' came along things looked up for Tom, except when Murphy and Getty had noticed the tell tale signs of a respiratory sickness in Louis and 'Coop' she'd told Tom that they needed to leave. He had refused and Murphy had told him if he'd wanted to lose another child. They'd argued and he'd asked her to leave, because her childhood home wasn't hers anymore, and if her childhood stood for anything you could probably say she was the most stubborn person on planet Earth.

She was not going to let her family die and so with the help of Getty they organised a strategy to get Tom, Louis and 'Coop' out of that damn forsaken house. By setting fire to the corn the most prominent crop that they had to eat. It drove them out and saved her family's life and it had also been the start of a new romance for Murph as she'd shared her first kiss with Getty amongst a sweltering amount of burning corn.

Murphy steadily rose up in the world, by her thirties she was working for NASA HQ spending hours on Dr. Amelia Brand's gravity theory, but when Dr. Brand's Father broke the news on his deathbed that it had all been a shame and that the theory and 'Plan A' had been discovered months earlier. She was angry and upset, and unable to bring herself to comprehend that her Father had wasted precious time and belief in something that wasn't even true, but she was true to her word and to her own belief in Murphy's law, because like her Father had told her all those years ago whatever _can_ happen, will happen, and she wouldn't give up hope, because deep down there must have been a reason why they where still there, and she was still going to try and bring her Dad home, because whether Joseph Cooper liked it our not he'd promised his little girl.

It was for this reason that Murphy had married Getty later in life. Her logic behind it had been that the longer she put off having children the longer her Father would be able to spend with them. If he ever came back that was, but Murphy hated that thought, and some part of her never doubted him, because he had promised.

On her wedding day she'd had the whole kit and caboodle, Murphy Cooper had stuck to tradition bringing something new, something old, something blue and something borrowed. Although, her Father's watch he had given her was her favourite, Tom hadn't understood why she had brought it, but it was a piece of him and a piece of her and as long as it kept ticking she would be okay.

"Are you nervous?" Tom asked.

"A little." Murphy replied as she continued to put pins in her hair.

"Don't be."

"You've scrubbed up nicely Murph."

"Thanks." she replied with a small smile.

During her engagement to Getty she had spent hours on end experimenting in her laboratory. She had been mad at Brand for lying to her, and she felt helpless. So, she'd spent her time working on meaningless experiments. In the hopes to reverse what had happened to the beautiful planet Earth she had tried to grow vegetables, but had failed miserably, but when she had found a gardening book on flowers that had belonged to her Grandpa Donald. The only plant she had been able to muster into full health was a single rose bush. The aroma of the intoxicating red flower instantly brought tears to her eyes, because in her lifetime she had never took in the scent of a flower before nor had she eaten a hotdog. In her lifetime all she grew up to know was acres and acres of corn. So, horror movies based corn fields had been banned in their household when she was a child.

She'd worn her Mother's wedding dress, a blue necklace, pinned a red rose to her dress, and wore her Dad's watch around her wrist. Instead of wearing jewellery which she only saw as being chunky bits of metal anyway.

That day Tom had walked her down the aisle she knew it should have been her Dad's job, hell even Grandpa Donald's, but he'd died not long after Jesse had been born, and so now the task fell to her brother.

The only thing Murphy hadn't gone alone with was changing her last name, and Getty didn't mind in the slightest, he could understand her like no one else, and she loved him for it. Tom had just seen it as a means to hold onto their Father, and if that was the case she didn't mind, and so forever she had stayed Ms. Murphy Cooper.

When Murphy found out she was pregnant she'd had mixed emotions, but in the end it was worth it, because she had a daughter called Emily Jessica Getty. The labour had spanned over a day and it had been painful and exhausting, but she knew that the longer it took meant that it was more time that her Dad would be able to spend with his Granddaughter and the newest Cooper member, and that brought a smile to her face.

Tom and Louis had been happy for her, and Louis had manage to smuggled in a slice of orange and poppy seed cake into her hospital room while she was still resting, telling her that maybe with a child it would take her mind off her Dad like it had with Tom and she would be able to move on, but Murphy had told Louis it had done just the opposite. What Louis didn't know is that orange and poopy seed cake wasn't just her favourite now that she'd finally had some, but that it was her Dad's favourite too.

To able to even consume the cake in the first place had been a challenge in itself, but with Murph's intellect and being able to grow roses. She'd also been able to grow fruit in her laboratory too, and it seemed that Louis turned out to be a fine cook. The only thing that worried Murphy was that her and her team were running out of time and her efforts to continue making Earth sustainable were still faltering. So, really they would need Doctor Who with all of his timey whimey genius Space junk to come and save the day. Unless and most probably the answer was that this catastrophe was a fixed point in time so not even the Doctor could save them this time round.

Emily grew up fast and my gosh did she ask a lot of questions. When she was four she begun to understand natures course. So, the day that she asked about her lack of Grandparents had been a tough one.

"If Grandma isn't here does that mean Grandpa died too?" Emily had asked.

"No."

"Where's Grandpa then?"

"He's in Space."

"So, he's in a galaxy far, far away like in Star Wars right?"

"Something that that." Murphy had replied with a small, but sad smile.

After the birth of Emily four years later she had another child, a son called Dominic Copper Getty. He wasn't as inquisitive and quick witted as his sister, but he was a sweet child who relied on his Mother and wanted to learn as much as he could.

When she found out she was pregnant again for the third time she couldn't be happier by now Emily was six and in school. Which she enjoyed almost as much as Murphy had done, and Dominic who by now was two was still running around in nappies. Murphy had another long labour like she had expected and she'd had another daughter which they had called Maeve Erin Getty and the little bundle looked just like her.

They'd had the periodic table on the toilet door, glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, a telescope and a sky scanner, but there favourite game had been trying to figure out what planet their Grandfather was on using the scanner and they were well versed in being able to name constellations, planets and stars.

Murphy had tried to explain that they probably wouldn't find him, but her children had told her not to give up hope and that together they would find Joseph Cooper and she couldn't help, but burst into tears.

When they had made it to what was eventually called Cooper Station her two other children weren't alive yet. So, all they knew was what life was like on that station, and not the tough conditions on the planet that they use to call home. On Cooper Station and its surrounding Space Colony which had been designed to be were based on the concept of an O'Neill's cylinder to orbit that of Saturn. It was a truly breathtaking sight to behold, but they had picked Saturn as it had turned out that Mars was unsuitable to hold the rest of humanity like first thought all those years ago, and on the Station it didn't take long for them all to thrive and prosper once again, and for Murphy to be able to finally eat a hot dog. A food that she hadn't understood and had dreamed about eating since her Grandpa Donald had mentioned it at a baseball game one time.

* * *

"Dad?"

"Sorry, Murph go back to bed."

"I thought you were the ghost."

"There's no such things as ghosts."

"Grandpa says you can keep ghosts."

"Yeah, well maybe that's because Grandpa is a bit close to being one himself. Now, go back to bed Murph."

"Where you dreaming about the crash?" Murphy asked.

"I need you to go back to bed Murph."

She was dying, she knew, but she had done all that she ever needed to, and although she had never really sent her Father recorded messages expect on her thirty sixth birthday to express her sadness and anger about him not being their for her and Tom. She had made it up by taking photos of both her and Tom's lives along with that of her children's and nephews. They had been dated and had descriptions and the big album of a whole Cooper dynasty had been all summed up in one word, STAY.

After having a twenty five year grudge and not messaging her Father while he was still around. She now regretted that, but she was smart enough to know that she couldn't change the past, but she knew could make it up to him by changing the future, and she hoped that the photo album that she created would make it up to him. It contained the branches and the little twigs of her family and letting him be witness to all the milestones and just regular family moments that he had missed out on. She'd hope that it would make him feel like he still had a place in the family that he'd been away from for so long.

Murphy knew that she didn't have much time left and so she had told the Doctors on the Station that she wanted to be put into hypersleep, because she knew she wouldn't see her Dad otherwise, and she would die trying, because she couldn't be the one to break their promise if he was to succeed in his endeavour.

When she'd woken from her sleep she'd asked for her Father, only to be told that he was at Cooper Station, and to see him she would have to be transported. Murphy agreed to the terms and all she would have to do is hold out a little longer, and she knew that the Doctors here would do anything to keep her alive, just that little bit longer, she just knew it, because she was the one and only Murphy Cooper. Who with her Dad's help had saved the whole of human existence, she may have gained all the credit, but it was her Father that had been her ghost, and he was the real saviour.

"You told them I liked farming."

Murphy chuckled.

"It was me Murph, I was your ghost."

"I know."

Murphy paused, "People didn't believe me, they thought I was doing it all myself."

Murphy pointed to the watch Cooper had given to her all those years ago, "But I knew who it was." she said with a smile

Cooper grabbed hold of her hands and tried to stop himself from crying.

"Nobody believed me, but I knew you'd come back."

"How?" he asked.

"Because my Dad promised me." she simply replied.

"I'm here now Murph," he said as he tighten the grip on her hands, "I'm here."

"No, no parent should have to watch their own child die." she said, "I have my kids for me now." she said reassuringly, "You go."

She would of wanted him to stay, but she was his last remaining child, he'd missed out on seeing Tom pass almost two decades ago, and she didn't want her death to be his last memory of her. She had seen what had happened to Tom when Jesse had died and she by no means wanted the same for her Dad.

"Where?" he replied.

"Brand, she's out there setting up camp." she said, "Alone, in a strange Galaxy, even right now she's settling in for a long nap. By the light of our new sun, in our new home."

She had her children by her side, Emily, Dominic and Maeve and her own little collective of Grandchild and even her extended family where there to see her go. Her Nephew Joseph 'Coop' Cooper had been nice enough to call his own daughter Murphy Louis Cooper. He'd said he thought it was appropriate to name her after the two women that had made the most influence in his life, because without the help of his Mother and Murphy he would of no longer existed.

Ms. Murphy Cooper had died at peace and without any pain, surrounded by her loved ones.

Because, whatever _can_ happen, will happen, since she was her Father's daughter, and this was Murphy's law.

*~ **The End** ~*

* * *

 **Hiya guys, I literally just finished this beautiful piece of work in about a day, and I can't believe it! Just the editing got in the way, along with life and University. So, to be very honest with you, it's the quickest I've ever finished a story, and I couldn't be happier, but I guess you could say I had a lovely little plot bunny that was very persistent… To anyone wondering though this story will be a stand alone, but one day I might write more for the Interstellar fandom, and I hope that you all enjoy this little fic as much as I enjoyed writing it.**

 **Also, please REVIEW! It's nice to know what you guys thought of the story—good or bad.**

 **If you find any grammatical errors please let me know. I have improved, but I'm still cautious of slight errors.**

 **A.L107**


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